The U-18s played to an exciting 3-3 draw with their United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) West Conference, Northwest Division foe, while the U-16s erased a 2-0 deficit and came back to claim a 3-2 win.

U-18

Whitecaps FC U-18 Residency (14W-5L-5D) and De Anza Force came into Saturday’s contest second and third respectively in the USSDA West Conference, Northwest Division, level on points with 46 apiece.

And the match lived up to the billing, as the ‘Caps took a 3-0 lead before conceding three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes en route to a thrilling 3-3 draw.

“At the end of the day, it was a disappointing result but a very good performance,” U-18 assistant coach Steve Meadley told whitecapsfc.com. “The boys are gutted, and we’re gutted for them. But we’ll get the film and we’ll be able to show them all the good things they did as well as the things we need to work on.”

Whitecaps FC U-18 midfielder Marco Bustos continued his torrid pace, bagging his team-leading 13th and 14th goals of the season. The Manitoba native, who just turned 18 this week, has scored nine goals in his last six games. First-year midfielder Kyle Jones also found the scoresheet for the Blue and White.

The visiting ‘Caps began to take control of the match around the 10-minute mark, as they kept possession and created several chances. Jones opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a quality strike from inside the area, before Bustos doubled Vancouver’s lead in the 35th minute.

A dominant first-half performance gave the ‘Caps a well-deserved 2-0 lead at the half, and they picked up where they left off after the break. Bustos again found the back of the net just before the hour-mark, giving Vancouver a 3-0 advantage.

Fellow Manitoba native Kianz Froese set both of Bustos’ goals up, as the pair continues to cause problems for opposing defenders with their passing combinations.

Whitecaps FC kept creating chances in the final half-hour, but then De Anza caught them on the break on three separate occasions to battle back and level the game at 3-3.

“We’re happy the boys played, stuck to our principles, and created chances,” said Meadley. “We just have to be a little more savvy with our defensive transition, but we’ll learn to manage these games and put teams away.”

A 10-men Whitecaps FC U-16 Residency (13W-4L-6D) side scored three unanswered second-half goals to secure a 3-2 comeback win over De Anza Force on Saturday afternoon.

The ‘Caps got off to a lively start at De Anza College, but it was the home team that opened the scoring in the 21st minute against the run of play. To their credit, De Anza came on strong towards the end of the first half, but the Blue and White held them off and entered the interval down by one goal.

But in the 46th minute, Vancouver went down to 10 men after defender Andre Baires was sent off and De Anza doubled their lead three minutes later.

Then, the ‘Caps dug deep and started the comeback.

Substitute Kadin Chung got Vancouver on the board in the 52nd minute. Striker Aymar Sigue, who was dragged to ground moments earlier, set up the goal by alertly feeding Chung at the penalty spot as the Force defenders looked on.

Victoria native Dario Zanatta, who was playing as a central attacking midfielder, then evened the score for Whitecaps FC, cooling finishing after receiving a perfect throughball from Francesco Saporito.

It was Zanatta’s team-leading 17th goal of the season in his 19th appearance. Only two players in the 78-team USSDA have scored more goals this season.

Finally, a pair of substitutes combined when Terran Campbell converted a Thomas Gardner cross in the 78th minute to complete the comeback and give Vancouver a 3-2 victory.

“We were probably unfortunate to be down 2-0, but so pleased with the character the boys showed, so pleased with how they respected the plan and didn’t given up,” U-16 head coach Rich Fagan told whitecapsfc.com. “They continued to push and continued to push until they heard that last whistle. Overall, very pleased with their effort and performance.”